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Mobility
HME NEWS / SE p TEM b E r 2017 / WWW . HMENEWS . C o M 19
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – National Seating &
Mobility has acquired the mobility divi-
sion of Wright & Filippis, positioning
the company as the leading provider of
complex rehab solutions in Michigan,
it says.
"Wright & Filippis is one of the coun-
try's most respected providers of pros-
thetics, orthotics, custom mobility prod-
ucts and accessibility solutions," said Bill
Mixon, CEO of NSM. "This acquisition
NSM makes big play in Michigan
allows both companies to focus on our
areas of expertise to better serve clients
in Michigan."
NSM will take over Wright & Filip-
pis' complex rehab operations in metro
Detroit and Lansing. Wright & Filippis'
mobility division in Flint will merge with
an existing NSM branch in Freeland. NSM
also operates a branch in Troy.
Eighteen Wright & Filippis employees,
including seven ATPs, will make the tran-
sition to NSM.
Wright & Filippis has been shedding
different divisions in the past few years
to zero in on its prosthetics and orthot-
ics business. It sold its diabetes supply
business in 2013, and its HME and respi-
ratory businesses in 2014, leaving O&P
and complex rehab and accessibility.
In June, NSM also picked up Mobility
Healthcare, with locations in Carrollton
and Lewisville, Texas.
hme
MAN u ALS
C O N T i N u E d f r O M p A G E 1
Legislation introduced in the House
and Senate in 2016 sought to stop the
cuts for accessories for both complex
power and manual wheelchairs, but
CMS included only power wheelchairs
in its June 23 announcement.
The reason: It could have to do with
a bill back in 2008 that exempted com-
plex rehab from the bid program. At
the time, only power wheelchairs, not
manual wheelchairs, were set to be
included in the pro-
gram and, therefore,
the bill provided pro-
tection only for those
wheelchairs.
" U n f o r t u n a t e l y,
there has been an
unintentional focus
on power and once
t h a t b a l l s t a r t e d
moving it has been
difficult to stop,"
C l a y b a c k s a i d .
"That's one reason
why we said, 'Let's
clarify that with the
2016 legislation and
include both.'"
Stakeholders and
their champions in
Congress were able to stave off the
cuts for accessories for complex power
wheelchairs for a year in 2016 and six
months in 2017. Not so for manual
wheelchairs.
"We're going back to congressio-
nal leaders and saying, 'Thank you
for championing this issue for power
wheelchairs; now we're looking to
complete the picture,'" Clayback said.
It doesn't make sense to protect
access to accessories for one product
category and not the other, as complex
manual wheelchair users also need, for
example, special cushions to protect
them from pressure sores.
"Whether it's power or manual, they
have a disability and they're sitting in
a chair for 12 hours a day," Clayback
said. "They have the same need and
should have the same access."
This has been a major point of
emphasis during meetings on Capi-
tol Hill to discuss the need to stop the
cuts.
"Equal access is vital," said Laura
Weidner, senior director of federal gov-
ernment relations for the National MS
Society. "Legislation on this front is a
heavy priority for us."
hme
HOME MODS
C O N T i N u E d f r O M p r E v i O u S p A G E
will help people age in place, but they're
not working together," he said. "This is the
beginning of a more organized movement."
The second goal of the group is getting
seniors behind the movement. No one
disputes that the population is becoming
increasingly gray and that aging in place
is preferred and less costly, but without a
financial incentive to modify their homes,
it has been difficult to get seniors to act,
Tenenbaum says.
"It's similar to solar energy and hybrid
cars—we started doing these things because
there was an incentive to do it," he said.
In this way, advocates for aging in place
are also shifting the customer base for aging-
in-place products and services from those
who don't have money to those who do,
Tenenbaum says.
"You need to spend money to get the cred-
it," he said. "Then, once the movement has
traction and we have larger data sets on how
it saves money, more widespread coverage
(from the government and other payers)
will follow suit."
Accessible Home Improvement of Ameri-
ca, a division of the VGM Group, has joined
Tenenbaum on what has been, in many
ways, a one-man crusade. AHIA has spon-
sored HomesRenewed, and Jim Greatorex,
vice president, sits on its board of directors.
Greatorex said H.R. 1780 "wins" on every
level—for the companies offering these
products and services, for the consumers
wanting to say in their homes, for the hos-
pitals trying to prevent admissions, for the
insurers looking to reduce costs.
"It's a great opportunity where our indus-
try, the HME industry, can be part of the
solution," he said.
hme
THE CASE
C O N T i N u E d f r O M p r E v i O u S p A G E
"There is research that suggests
$1,200 in investments in home modi-
fications and equipment saves 25% of
hospitalizations," said Louis Tenen-
baum, founder of HomesRenewed.
oN o THE r po TENTIAL INCENTI v ES
"There are 7.3 million long-term care
insurance policies out there right now
and only 280,000 are collecting,"
Tenenbaum said. "That means about 7
million are ready to be opened, and with
an average claim of $30,000, that's $211
billion of purchasing power. These poli-
cies could provide premium discounts
to policyholders with upgraded homes
because they pay premiums longer and
collect benefits at a later date."
hme
N SM
C O N T i N u E d f r O M p r E v i O u S p A G E
based on what makes the most sense and
what provides the best care. By doing
that, we have a higher probability at bet-
ter outcomes, in conjunction with better
satisfaction from referral sources."
A happy and empowered workforce
greases the wheels for NSM's larger goals
of operational excellence ("We work to
get a little better at everything we do
every day, from the perspective of our
cycle times and other aspects of the busi-
ness," Mixon said) and growth.
"We see a growing business as a robust
business and a healthy business," he
said.
I f N S M 's c u r-
rent growth is any
i n d i c a t i o n , t h e
company is both.
It added 21 new
b r a n c h e s , y e a r
over year, in 2016-
17. In August, it
added the complex
rehab business of
Wright & Filippis
in Rochester Hills,
Mich., and in June
it acquired Mobil-
ity Healthcare in
C a r r o l l t o n a n d
Lewisville, Texas.
D e s p i t e r a p i d
c o n s o l i d a t i o n
i n t h e c o m p l e x
rehab market in
the past few years,
"we believe there
is still continued
o p p o r t u n i t y t o
pursue good com-
panies that share
our values," Mixon said.
NSM is also fueling growth by ham-
mering out exclusive distributor agree-
ments with vendors (its latest is with
WHILL, whose Model M is a more cash-
oriented wheelchair) and expanding its
home accessibility business, AccessNSM.
"That's a multi-billion dollar market
that's growing at 10%-plus," Mixon said.
"By the end of 2017, we expect to have
somewhere between 18 to 20 locations
in the U.S. We are very bullish on that
market."
But at the end of the day, NSM is in
the people business, Mixon says, and
that means employees are central to its
success.
"They're our growth engine," he
said.
hme
"They're
professionals, so
we don't dictate
that," he said.
"They make that
decision based
on what makes
the most sense
and what
provides the
best care. By
doing that, we
have a higher
probability at
better outcomes,
in conjunction
with better
satisfaction from
referral
sources."
Don Clayback
Laura Weidner
It's good to
be 'green'
f riends of d isabled Adults and Children
was recognized by the Atlanta Better
Buildings Challenge for its continu-
ing energy consumption reduction, it
announced in a press release. "We are
grateful for the recognition of f O d AC's
longstanding green initiative by the
ABBC," said Chris Brand, president and
CEO of f O d AC. "Our repurposing and
recycling program has always supplied
much of our inventory to supply the
needs of our clients, and keeps almost
300 tons of equipment and related
parts out of landfills." f O d AC is a non-
profit that has provided more than $10
million in d ME and supplies to people
with injuries and disabilities.
Briefs
Heartland Mobility
donates accessible van
OMAHA, Neb. – Heartland Mobility joined
forces with Chive Charities in July to donate
an accessible van to the family of Nejis Tol-
stedt, a seven year old with cerebral palsy.
Tolstedt has CP due to a traumatic brain
injury he incurred in his mother's womb
during a car accident in 2009. The dona-
tion is part of a larger initiative launched in
2016 by Chive Charities and BraunAbility
to provide nearly 20 wheelchair accessible
vehicles each year. To date, Chive Charities
has provided 74 such vehicles, as well as
410 pieces of medical equipment.
p eople in the news:
d r. r ory Cooper
Dr. Rory Cooper is stepping down as chair-
man of the Department of Rehabilitation
Science & Technology at the University of
Pittsburgh to devote more time to directing
the Human Engineering Research Labo-
ratories (HERL) and serving as associate
dean for inclusion in the School of Health
and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS). Coo-
per will remain chairman for a few months
while the university evaluates and reorga-
nizes the current structure of the Depart-
ment of Rehabilitation Science & Technolo-
gy, and its diverse programs and academic
offerings.